The history of America was changed forever once the franchising boom started up midway through the last century. Building a business had always been a staple of the economic freedom the country represented, but it was the ability to take a pre-existing brand and buy into a portion of it, running it as a branch or arm of a larger entity that truly fueled the growth of the economy and added an additional way for people to “live the dream.”

Things have been challenging over the last few years. Many portions of the tech industry have felt the pains and seen the turmoil. This infographic by our friends at MDG Advertising breaks it down for us, highlighting where we’ve been, where we are, and focusing on the road to recovery.